Apple TV could get Siri support for replays during games

Here’s another suggestive patent for you. According to a recent filing, Apple could be planning on integrating enhanced functionality for sports fans into Siri on the Apple TV. These might even include the ability to call for an instant replay while watching a live sports game.

Great news for sports fans

Imagine this: you’re watching a sports game, and want to check a replay of something. Using the Apple TV’s Siri Remote, you ask for the replay and hey presto, it appears on-screen.

This all sounds good to us, but the patent details technology that’s a little more complex. You see, Siri would be able to identify significant events in media streams, including plays, penalties, and goals, allowing for users to give more general commands. (“Hey Siri, show me the second goal again.”) The software would also be able to recognise play segment divisions and play appearances, as a recent report from Patently Apple explains:

In sporting events, for example, media stream events could include plays, penalties, goals, play segment divisions (e.g., periods, quarters, halves, etc.), play appearances (e.g., player at bat, players on ice, player in as quarterback, kicker on field, etc.), or the like.

For example, users might request Siri to pull up a fight in an ice hockey game (e.g., “show me the fight between Player Y and Player Q”), jump to the beginning of a period (e.g., “jump to the first period puck drop.”), watch a goal (e.g., “show me Player M’s goal”), see what resulted in a particular penalty (e.g., “show me the slashing penalty against Player X”), or the like.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the patent goes on to note how Siri might also be able to deliver pop-up stats to the Apple TV. Apple’s invention allows Siri to update with information in real-time, including details like player stats, and these would sync with the media stream currently being played. As such, a Siri call for in-game stats would see this information relate to that particular point in the game’s stream. Smart, right?

In another example, timely information could be integrated into Siri’s knowledge base to provide answers to queries involving current events. A response to a specific user request could be generated based on the data relating to the event. The response could then be delivered to the user in a variety of ways (e.g., spoken aloud, displayed on a television, displayed on a mobile user device, etc.).

All of this (and more) is detailed in Apple’s patent. This kind of functionality would position the Apple TV (and tvOS) as even more of a smart, functional replacement for cable-cutters, and as a better alternative to the plethora of streaming devices already available on the market. Here’s hoping this clever feature reaches the Apple TV in the near future.